Title: The
Ice Prince or Such a Marvelous Rose
Author: Meiran Chang
( bonking_bishies @ swirve.com )
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: DorlianXSylvia,
1+R, 6+2, 3+4, 5+Dorothy, 6x9, 2xH
Warnings: shonen
ai, AU, fairy tale, angst, verrrrrrry mild self-insertion in, like, the
last sentence. I made Dorlian a total OOC wuss >_<. Also, I've
played fast and loose with family relationships and situations.
Comments: Ohhhhh
pretty please? --> bonking_bishies @ swirve.com
Archive: 6X2ML Archive
can have it. Otherwise,
please email me, I don't bite.
Disclaimers: I do
not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, they belong to Bandai and Sunrise
and the American rights are owned by Cartoon Network. Please don't sue
me, I'll just cry a lot. Also, the original story of "Beauty and the Beast"
is by Mme Leprince de Beaumont and not mine either. I don't own anything
except... the original portions of this piece of fiction...whatever
they are.
Dedication: To the
6X2ML, because they're darlings all and the inspiration for
this fic.
The
Ice Prince
Chapter XV
Dorlian was overjoyed when Duo trudged into the sun-dappled
kitchen the next morning and informed him that he'd be staying an extra week.
His father's rejoicing lifted Duo's spirits only a little, for Duo felt like
a betrayer. He could not forget the burning intensity of the Beast's eyes
that evening a week ago. His thoughts were constantly tugged back to him and
the hell and grief he must be going through. Duo missed him, with
the constant and dull ache that had marked much of his year at the Beast's.
Guilt weighed heavily on Duo's heart despite all Relena and Quatre could
tell him. Quatre insisted that the Beast had been vague in saying "one week,"
and Relena was openly hostile towards him, calling him a foul monster and
restrained only by a hard glance from Quatre. There was no magic mirror here,
no way to tell how his erstwhile companion was faring, and Duo worried. He
wasn't reassured by his siblings' promises and had trouble getting to sleep
at night.
On the eleventh night he stayed at his father's home, Duo had a vivid dream.
The Beast was in his treasured garden, watering his favorite black roses.
The look on his face was of immense loneliness and sadness. He moved with
agonizing slowness, the quick and precise grace which Duo remembered gone.
Suddenly, pain flashed across the Beast's face, and the watering can clattered
to the stone path as his muscles jerked. He fell to his knees. Another burst
of pain reduced his resistance to nothing, and the Beast collapsed.
Duo woke up in shock, his heart beating madly. The moon and stars peeked
curiously through his curtains as he pressed his face against his coverlet
in grief, unbound and tangled hair snaking everywhere.
'How could I do that to him?' he berated himself, rocking silently. 'Is
it his fault he's a Beast? He's kind and good and he doesn't deserve to have
his heart broken! I'll never forgive myself if he dies because of me.'
Resolute, Duo batted his hair out of his eyes, reached out to his end table
and took a quill and some paper from it. He dipped the quill in the inkwell
and wrote,
Relena, Quatre, Father: I've gone to the Beast's. He needs me
now more than you do. You should know he's not going to hurt me. Please believe
me. I am not enchanted; I am in full possession of my own mind, and common
decency says that the Beast doesn't deserve to be betrayed and I shouldn't
have broken my promise. I'll come back later. With love, Duo.
He placed the note on the end table, new ink shining darkly, and laid the
quill beside it. The brass-plated inkwell gleamed golden approval as Duo took
his ring, which rested beside his lamp every night, and slid it on his ring
finger.
The simple action calmed him and strengthened his will. He pulled his coverlet
close around him, feeling much better, murmured, "Please take me to the Beast,"
and fell asleep.
When he awoke, he was lying on the faded plum canopy bed in the eldritch
room the Beast had taken him to a week and a half ago. Through the torn curtains
hiding the balcony, daylight broke with a cheerful vengeance. Relief flooded
through Duo's system, and he hopped out of bed.
The relief drained away, however, when Duo realized that without the little
magic mirror, he had no idea how to get out of this wing of the manor and
to the Beast. He wasn't sure if his dream had been real, but it certainly
felt urgent. There was a mirror on the wall, but it was much cracked, and
Duo sensed no enchantment about it. He glanced at his shattered reflection
and winced; his hair was in desperate need of a brush, as it usually was every
morning. That was the problem with such long hair, but considering that he'd
spent all his life growing it, he wasn't about to cut it now.
His short-term solution was to utilize the band around his wrist and quickly
tie his hair into a ponytail, not wanting to waste time with an elaborate
braid. Hopefully, he scanned the room for some water to wash his face with,
feeling the general nastiness that everyone feels in the morning.
Finding no water, he pulled his robe close around him to ward off the chilly
morning and stepped out onto the balcony to continue his search when he caught
sight of the same black rose he'd discovered on the eve of his birthday. Then,
it had been in a state of blooming health. It remained, suspended in mid-air
in a bell glass, but its head drooped perilously, bereft of adornment aside
from a few tenaciously clinging petals. Inquisitive but vaguely alarmed, Duo
drew closer. Another petal, shriveled and dry, drifted wearily down. The
heavenly, powerful radiance that had emanated from the rose had been reduced
to a weak glow.
He stared at it for a moment. Something about that rose nagged at the edges
of his mind. He wasn't sure why, but it seemed important. The answer kept
tugging at his consciousness and slipping off again.
Duo shook his head. Beside the bell glass was a small bowl of water, and
Duo dipped his hands into it and washed his face. The water was crisp and
cold, efficiently waking him up. A small, cleverly disguised trash receptacle
masqueraded as a minor sculpture at the foot of the little table, and Duo
rinsed his mouth and spat into it. He glanced back at the rose, which hung
limply like an evil portent, then shook his head, swiped the shredded curtains
aside and went back into the old room.
He paused briefly to search for slippers, as he didn't fancy trotting about
barefoot, and for something that would be better proof against the frigid
weather than his thin robe. He found both in the form of enormous blue slippers
that flapped when he walked and a thick, fur-trimmed winter coat he probably
looked ridiculous in. He pushed open the door to the room, surveyed the hallway,
chose a direction, and headed off.
Hours passed. There were labyrinthine twists and turns, hidden doorways,
and endless halls. If Duo didn't know any better, he'd have sworn the Beast
had modified with the passages with magic. As it was, he got increasingly
more frustrated. His only landmarks were the paintings and mounted displays
sprinkled on the walls, and after a while they all began to look alike. Duo
entered briefly into one green-hung room to locate a quill, an inkwell, and
some paper, and carried the materials with him, mapping as he went along.
With much crossing-out, he scribbled an extensive blueprint of the wing. Because
he had no idea where he was going, however, all he could do was hope he'd
find the Beast eventually.
Every once in a while, Duo glanced out one of the floor-to-ceiling windows
to determine the time. At first, everything was all right. He could convince
himself that things weren't that pressing and the Beast was really fine. The
sun helped by keeping the winter sky lit with its usual clarity. However,
as time went on and Duo turned corner after corner, door after door, the sun
dipped progressively lower, and Duo's spirits dipped with it. His nightmare
of the Beast's collapse was all the more real with every passing second. As
the sky began to darken, a pressing need to find him pushed Duo onward.
Sunset found him nearly mad with panic. He had several wrinkled and worn
pages covered in maps shoved in his pocket, the ink had spilled when he tripped
on the edge of the winter coat he was wearing, and in all the rooms he'd searched,
he hadn't found the Beast. He couldn't even see the gardens from this wing
of the manor. Duo was certain that if the Beast knew what he was going through,
he would have rescued him from this nightmare long ago.
Sunset became evening, but Duo vowed not to give up until he collapsed from
fatigue. It was only right. The Beast would have done the same for him. He
moved forward, but staggered, caught his foot on a tear in the carpet and
pitched forward against a door, shoving it open.
He would have cursed if he'd had breath to spare, or maybe wept, face-down
on the floor, nose pressed against royal blue. He was so damn tired, so exhausted....
Was he ever going to get out of this infernal wing?
Then he looked up and suddenly, the entire day was worth it.
How many times had he passed by that familiar wall hanging on his way to
the Dining Hall, coming from the gardens? The winter trees and the iced-over
lake depicted seemed to him the very emblem of joy. Near the wall hanging
was a stained glass window, one he'd paused to admire more than once. A thrill
of success ran through his weary spirit as he got to his feet.
Now there was no time to waste.
In his haste, Duo all but flew, losing one of the slippers that had been
tripping him all day. Finally, at the end of another familiar corridor, gleamed
the glass doors. He pushed them open at a full run, trusting to their ponderous
weight to keep them from shattering against the wall, and scanned the garden,
so hopeful and desperate that it felt like physical pain in his chest.
Lying on the cold stone path, clothing rumpled, motionless, lay the Beast,
exactly as Duo had seen him in his dream. The stars and moon which had watched
him with such alien inquisitiveness were now the audience as Duo ran to him,
losing his other slipper in the process, and knelt by his side. The Beast's
eyes were closed, and Duo couldn't see his chest rising and falling as he
breathed. A rending pain tore through Duo as, for a moment, he thought him
dead.
Shaking, he checked the Beast for vital signs once more, and this time,
he did it properly, with two fingers to the wrist and head to chest. The
Beast was alive, but terribly weak. Duo could only faintly hear his heart
beating, and his pulse was staggered. Frantically Duo's gaze raked the garden
for something to wake him with. It lit upon the watering can, and Duo upended
it over the Beast's face. Cold water splashed down. He waited anxiously for
some sign of life.
The Beast's eyes opened, revealing that familiar crystal blue, and a powerful
relief swept through Duo. The Beast wasn't looking good, though; his eyes
were out of focus. He blinked and uttered a soft, almost inaudible groan,
shifting his head away from the moonlight. He stared steadily at nothing for
a moment, blinking a few times, before he raised his gaze to meet Duo's.
"You broke your promise," he whispered. There was nothing of accusation
in his tone, only a deep, grave sadness. His voice was still gentle, though
hoarse, and he spoke with agonizing slowness. "I missed you...."
"I'm sorry, Beast." Duo bowed his head. "I really am. But I came back! So
isn't it going to be --"
"Too late," the Beast sighed weakly. Duo started and stared in disbelief.
"But I'm glad you're here, Duo... I can die in peace. God has let me see you
one more time...."
Once more, he closed his eyes.
"Don't say things like that!" In a movement born of instinct and tenderness,
Duo cradled the Beast's head in his lap, stroking his forehead gently. "I'll
stay with you. Forever, if you ask me to. I promise. Oh Beast, I'm so sorry.
I know I've been an idiot. When I couldn't find you today it felt like I was
going to die, it really did. I want to be with you, Beast. I love you."
The Beast remained quite motionless.
"Please, Beast, you can't -- die...please..."
He became suddenly aware that tears had escaped his eyes, burning down his
face. The wind slapped against him like a sheet of needles and whipped his
hair against his face like a she-demon. He felt dead inside.
He hadn't been able to understand the mortal nature of the love the Beast
had given him until suddenly, that reassuring bulwark was no longer there.
He'd thrown that noble love away, left it lying on the floor like an irresponsible
child, and when he realized its value at last, it was too late and the treasure
had shattered. He had discovered too late what a true love was. The Beast
was dead, and by Duo's hand.
He held the Beast tightly, too stricken by grief and guilt to do anything
but exist in the moment. He'd stopped crying, too numb for the effort, and
the tears dried on his face.
Then the sound of wind chimes filled the air, and Duo looked up. Snow was
falling... but what snow was this? It twinkled like tiny white diamonds drifting
down from heaven. A shaft of moonlight broke through the heavy winter clouds
and illuminated the body of the Beast. The snow fell faster, with more energy,
more fury, until the Beast was covered in it.
Infuriated at nature's presumption, Duo lifted a shaking hand to brush the
snow off his dead love's body.
The Beast moved.
Duo froze as the Beast, still covered from head to toe in the snow, sat
up, then got to his feet and began to shake the snow off of himself in silence.
As the glittering snow fell from him, however, it wasn't the Beast's familiar
visage that greeted him....
His first impression was of an ice prince from the fairy tales his father
had read to him when he was a child. The stranger was a young man, tall, with
crystal blue eyes and long, pale gold hair that fell past his slim waist.
He had a noble, intelligent face, of such solemn beauty that it seemed appropriate
to a statue of a god, not the visage of a mere mortal. He was clothed in gauzy
white that made him look like a demi-angel in the moonlight.
The stranger stretched and examined himself, from his elegant hands to his
long legs, with a look of puzzlement, then disbelief. He glanced around with
those straight-lashed, ice blue eyes, and saw Duo, who remained sitting on
the garden path, shivering, staring with wide eyes and no words. His eyes
brightened.
"Duo," he said, and smiled.
The voice, the eyes... were the Beast's voice, the Beast's eyes. Even the
smile had the hesitancy the Beast had shown in Duo's first few weeks with
him. The stranger offered his hand to Duo, and Duo accepted it and was drawn
up to his feet by a warm, firm grip.
"What have you done to the Beast?" Duo said softly, unable to break contact
with the ice blue of the other man's eyes. The stranger had not let go of
his hand.
"I am the Beast," he said. Another shy smile. "It's a long story. Will you
come inside with me?" His hand tightened on Duo's. "You're freezing, Duo.
My God, you don't even have any shoes on! Are you trying to kill yourself,
love? We've got to warm you up."
Duo nodded, completely speechless, and allowed the ice prince -- the Beast?
-- to lead him indoors.
A while later, Duo was clutching a steamy mug of hot chocolate and sitting
in an enormous armchair in front of a roaring, crackling fire, having been
fed and warmed by the stranger, who sat across from him.
"Are you really the Beast?" Duo began.
The young man -- barely older than Duo, really -- nodded. "Yes. A fairy
turned me into the Beast because she thought I had it too easy." His face
looked briefly sour. "She wanted me to suffer. Said it would make me grow
into a better person. The only way I could return to my old body was to have
the person I loved freely promise to stay with me. While I was under the
spell, I couldn't explain a single thing to him.
"It was hopeless. First of all, I don't like women. This multiplied the
difficulty, because...well...that's not common. Second, I am -- was -- a Beast.
A monster. What sane person would agree to stay with a Beast? What kind of
person could love a Beast?"
Duo delicately cleared his throat. The young man smiled his shy, affectionate
smile. "You're different, Duo. Rare. You looked past my appearance, and you
saw me for who I was. I'm not cruel or evil... just another man, and you saw
that. You had the heart to let me show myself. That's why I love you."
"You feel like the Beast," Duo said. "You have the same air. And eyes, and
voice, and manner..."
"That's because I am the Beast," the young man answered calmly. "Really."
He stretched again. "Can I mention that it feels marvelous to be human? To
see through human eyes again... Thank you."
Duo's lips quirked. "Would it be appropriate to say, 'any time'?"
The young man chuckled appreciatively. Duo set his cup of chocolate down
beside the foot of his armchair and asked, "Beast, now that the spell has
been broken, will you tell me your name?"
"Well, let's see if you can guess it," the young man said, blue eyes fond
and amused. "I'll give you a hint: I disappeared nineteen years ago."
Duo lifted an eyebrow. "But you look like you're nineteen."
"While I was a Beast, I didn't age."
"Oh, Beast, don't make me guess," Duo pleaded. "Just tell me. I think I've
earned the right to know."
The young man sighed. "You have very expressive eyes, my heart. I can't
deny you. Very well... since you've asked, my... Well. My birth name is Zechs
Milliardo Peacecraft."
"Whoa!" Duo's eyes widened. "You mean --"
Zechs nodded.
"So that's what happened to the lost Peacecraft prince."
"Is that what they called me, then?" Zechs said lightly. "I wondered. I
was always a bit too depressed to read up on it. May I ask you something,
Duo?"
"Sure."
Duo had the impression that the Beast -- Zechs -- had mentally gone through
several drafts of what he was about to say. "Duo... when you finally found me
in the garden and talked to me, I was still alive. I heard your promise, and...
well, this is going to sound absolutely horrible, but I really don't mean
it badly, I just would like to know if --"
"Zechs," the name sounded strange on Duo's lips, "please spit it out."
"What I mean to say is, will you honor your promise and stay with me?"
"Yes," Duo said. He glanced away from the prince. "I know I don't have a
very good field record so far, but that's a promise I'll keep, before God."
The prince rose, crossed over to Duo, and knelt. Duo looked at him curiously
and then with delight as he said, "Then Duo, I offer you my crown, if you'll
take it. It's not worth anything without you."
Joy blossomed within him. Zechs looked up hopefully, and what he saw on
Duo's face made him smile his sweet, joyful smile. Duo got to his feet, indicating
Zechs should as well, and took his love's hands.
"If you can love me, Beast --Zechs -- after what I've done to you...I..." He
couldn't finish his sentence, but instead reached up and kissed the prince
with all the emotion in him. Zechs seemed to be caught by surprise for a moment,
but rose to the occasion magnificently, wrapping his arms around Duo and
kissing him fiercely back.
They finally broke apart out of a mutual need for air, but both of them
were loath to break off their embrace. The white fabric of Zechs's clothing
was soft against Duo's cheek, and the prince's arms were warm and comforting.
They remained like that, peaceful and glad, until --
"How sweet," drawled an amused catty voice.